After an alarming 3-0 loss to Maryland Wednesday night, the Cavaliers are now in a first-place tie with the Terrapins in the ACC. Virginia (10-2-2, 5-1 ACC), however, has the chance to bounce back and regain some of its confidence this Saturday against Liberty at Klöckner Stadium.
Following their first loss in September against Old Dominion, a game Virginia was favored to win, the Cavaliers ran off a seven-game unbeaten streak with six wins and one tie. The team hopes to come back in a similar fashion after Wednesday's loss.
"It might be a good thing that we lost," sophomore defenseman Matt Poole said. "It'll re-energize us for the rest of the season."
Throughout the season, the Cavaliers have continually shown their resiliency. After the loss to Old Dominion, Virginia managed to fight off Boston College for a 4-3 win. The Cavaliers found a way to rally from behind twice, with the game-winning goal coming in the 85th minute by freshman forward Yannick Reyering in a match that consisted of two red cards and four penalty kicks.
Virginia also proved how tough it can be with its double-overtime 1-0 win against Clemson. The winning goal came once again from Reyering, this time in the 104th minute of the game.
What is now in question is whether the Cavaliers will be able to muster up enough strength and determination to rebound off the loss against Maryland the same way they did after the loss against Old Dominion. The Cavaliers see both losses in the same light and therefore do not expect the outcomes to be different, either.
"This game looked a lot like the Old Dominion game," head Coach George Gelnovatch said. "What I'll say is that coming out of the Old Dominion game, we were pretty damn good for the next month. So maybe a little bit of a kick in the backside isn't the worst thing in the world right now."
The loss Wednesday night does not seem to worry Virginia. Now, the Cavaliers will attempt to learn from their mistakes and find a way to recover and finish strong. If the Cavaliers want to clinch the ACC regular season title, they most likely will need to win their last three regular season games.
"We're going to have to be relentless," said Poole. "We're going to have to play our best games from here on out."
The Terrapins play BC Saturday and then end their season with home games against NJIT and Indiana.
Virginia's schedule is somewhat more grueling. After this Saturday's match against Liberty, the Cavaliers will host the ACC's No. 3 Virginia Tech the following week and end their season with a trip to Winston-Salem, N.C. for a game against Wake Forest.
Gelnovatch commented on what the team has in store for the rest of the season.
"We'll learn from this game and be better," Gelnovatch said.
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